Paper Snowflakes
by Last0things
Summary: Chapter 7: The Storm that Solitude Wrought: Jack is alone one week after waking in a frozen pond. He meets a 6' tall creature that calls itself the Easter Bunny. He hopes to find a possible friend in Bunny, but his hopes are soon betrayed. A short story about Jack and Bunny's relationship and the Blizzard of '68.
1. Birthdays and Paper Snowflakes

**Hiya folks. This is my first fanfiction. I mostly write on my own original story, but this is the first time I've felt motivated to write a fanfiction. I was hesitant when first beginning this, but I slipped into it so easily and the thing practically wrote itself. The characters from ROTG are just so vibrant and fun to write for. It really says something about the skill of the movie's storytellers when they create characters as vivid as these.**

**So anyway, I hope you enjoy. Like I said, first time, so be gentle with me haha. I'd love some reviews if you got 'em, and critique is welcome. I might choose to continue this with some more chapters later if I get anymore ideas. Could be tons of fun, I suppose.**

**EDIT:**

**This traffic graph thing is really freaking me out. I just noticed someone from Australia read this and I got all nervous. I've never had to write for someone with an Australian accent before, and it's freaking me out that I might have done it completely wrong. If it offends you in anyway, write me a review telling me how to fix it, please. **

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He glared at the date, trying to place why it felt so important. Jack Frost didn't normally give much import to dates. The only measurements of time he truly cared about was the passage of the seasons. The other guardians had holidays, but all Jack had was months and seasons, and that was exactly how he liked it. Let someone else worry about a mundane thing like the date. Besides, after 300 years, what was a number on a calendar?

But even so, the numbers and month flashing across Burgess's local bank's sign looked important and... familiar, somehow. But he shrugged and let the wind drift him away. He had more important things to do. Like start a snowball fight with the kids. Scratch that, a snowball _war_. He was in a cheerful mood that day for no particular reason. He felt the snowball battle to end all snowball battles coming on.

Later that night he sailed lazily through the small city's streets. He had grown to love the place. Now that he could remember the little colony it had grown from, seeing the warm, glowing place it had become put a smile on his face. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt the strongest bond to the children of his town. He had been there for the birth of the little settlement, and he promised to be there until whenever his time was up, protecting the kids that filled it's streets.

He spotted the northern lights in the night sky and realized it was meeting night. No one else could see them, otherwise meteorologists across the county would have panicked. But Jack knew they were calling him alone to the North Pole. The others had given up several months ago on having him remember the correct date and time for their meetings. After all, Jack Frost really didn't care about dates. Instead, North arranged for the lights to appear in the sky when he was needed at the pole.

He was drifting by a window that was spilling golden light out onto the snow when he glanced up, his gaze drawn by the sheer number of people crowded into the room beyond. There was a child, a girl he dimly remembered as one of Jamie's friends, sitting at the opposite end of the table. Her cheeks were puffed up round as she blew out the candles on top of a big, pink cake. Once all the candle were out, she grinned with a smile that was missing several teeth as the room applauded.

Jack nearly tumbled out of the air. The number on the bank's electronic sign flashed in his head again. Now he remembered! The date was important! Or at least today it was, because today was his birthday! He stayed there for a moment, his breath puffing out in little white wisps as it froze the water in the air around him. He had an inkling that birthdays were a big deal, but he couldn't quite remember what he was supposed to do on one. Finally, he blew off with the wind towards the north, giving up momentarily on remembering.

**xXx**

Jack blew through the window in Santoff Clausen that was left open for him, whistling disjointed bits of different songs. He landed gracefully, of course, but still felt like he was hovering over the floor. The others were already gathered around. Bunny and North were arguing over something, while Tooth was preening the feathers of one of her fairies in a motherly fashion. Sandy was fashioning toys out of sand, much to Phil's amusement. Bunny was the first to break away from the argument with a huff and notice Jack.

"Crikey, you look even happier than usual, mate. What've ya destroyed this time?" Bunny smiled, then scowled once he remembered that Jack's smiles usually came with the implication of some sort of trouble.

"Why do you always have to assume that I've done something bad?" Jack asked, trying to make his face look innocent and sad.

"Because ya always have." Bunny grumbled.

"Really, Jack, why do you seem so happy tonight? Not that I mind seeing your smile and all. I mean, any chance to see those teeth. But what's going on?" Tooth let the struggling fairy free, and it flitted towards him to swoon over his teeth.

"Nothing much, just... my birthday!" Jack paused for effect, then held his arms out wide like he was presenting the last part.

" B-birthday?!" North spluttered around a sip of hot cocoa, "Why did you not mention before? We are supposed to have party, and cake, and most important, _presents_!" North boomed.

"We are?" Jack asked.

"Why yes, of course Jack!" Tooth chirped, "Don't you know that you have to celebrate a birthday?".

"Well, actually, I kinda didn't know that. Birthdays aren't something I normally have." he shrugged.

"Everybody has birthdays, frostbite." Bunny shook his head in amusement.

"Not me. This is the first time in several hundred years I remembered the date." he laughed, but then thought about it for a moment and sat down on the ground, thinking hard. "Wait, I don't know how to have a birthday. I can't remember, and this is the first one I've had in over 300 years! What do I do?!" he glanced around him, looking for anything that might be used for this whole birthday thing. Then he remembered what time it was and gasped, gripping his hair in both hands. "My birthday's almost over, too! What happens if I don't celebrate it? Will I have a bad year, or is it some kind of death omen or something? What do I do, what do I do?!" he asked.

"Hey, hey, hey calm down! You don't have to do anything. We're the ones who need to get to work. We have to get a party going." Tooth beamed and her wings twitched happily, the iridescent colors in them dancing in the firelight. Then she shot across the room to North. "I assume your elves can make a cake, yes?" she asked in her most businesslike voice.

"Elves can make cake, yes, but if you do not want food poisoning, best ask Yetis." North assured. Jack hoped they asked the Yetis.

"Uh, guys, aren't birthdays sapposed to be a saprise?" Bunny glanced over at Jack, who was watching from the floor with more than a little fascination.

Sandy, who had, of course, been silent through the whole discussion nodded vigorously, golden presents and cakes and pointy hats suspended above his head.

"Well, okay then! We'll go get your party ready why you wait here and... do something, Jack!" Tooth chased Phil out of the room, listing off things they would need.

"Presents! There must be lots of presents!" North called to the Yetis through the door, "Jack is still child. Well, like child. Is not often we celebrate child's birthday at Santoff Clausen!". He turned before he left the room completely, "Jack, make self at home, but do not bother desk." North was comically serious, raising one eyebrow.

"Sure, sure. Never dream of it." Jack smirked. North pointed at him, then pointed at his own eyes with two fingers, then slid out of the room. Jack snickered, but only a little. One took the phrase 'I'm watching you' seriously when it was Santa Claus saying it.

Sandy tiptoed out of the room after North, forming different visions of toys and wrapped boxes from golden sand, probably trying to figure out exactly what to give Jack. Bunny strode after him, already painting some paper he had found in the office to use to wrap Jack's gift. Before he left, he turned back to face Jack, who was now alone in the room.

"No worries, frostbite, we'll make this birthday worth waiting 300 years." he nodded, resolute. Jack smiled, but was still wondering why not celebrating was such a bad thing. "Oh, and ya don't die from not celebrating ya birthday, ya drongo." he turned and left, and Jack could hear him snickering all the way down the hall. He briefly considered running after him and freezing his stupid fluffy tail solid.

**xXx**

Jack had to wait in North's office for two whole hours. He couldn't remember the last time he had had to sit still in one place for two hours. That, combined with excitement over this whole birthday thing, had him feeling like he was going to explode. He found different ways to amuse himself. One of the first things he did was climb into North's big swivel chair and spin around in circles. He called the wind in through the open window and let it spin him faster and faster and faster until he shot out of the chair and landed in a Christmas tree across the room. Several ornaments smashed on the floor. He laughed uncontrollably as the room spun around him.

Next, he beckoned the wind into the room again and let it pick up all of the papers strewn across North's desk. He made it snow paperwork. At this point the elves came in to check on him, and he iced the floor in front of them. They slid along the ice all the way into the wall on the other side of the room. Jack laughed so hard he almost fell off of his perch on the back of North's chair.

By the time North poked his head around the door the office looked like it had been hit by hurricane Frost. There were even a few elf-cicles suspended in various states of panic. Jack turned sheepishly, having just frozen the last one.

"Um... I'll clean it up later? Promise?" he gave North his best pleading look, making sure his eyes were extra sorrowful. North turned bright red for a moment, then closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose.

"Is okay. Just unfreeze elves, then come to party. He crossed his arms and drummed his fingers against them as Jack walked from elf to elf, cracking the ice with his staff. They each squealed, then huddled together in a clump in front of the fire, trembling in unison.

When Jack and North arrived in the observatory that North used to talk to MiM Jack gave a low, astonished whistle. There were paper snowflakes _everywhere_. Tooth and Sandy had apparently helped with this bit, because there were even tons of them hanging from the high ceiling. Many of the elves had also taken the chance to decorate themselves with paper snowflakes, gluing them to themselves with what Jack hoped had not been superglue.

He had always had a special fondness for paper snowflakes. He loved to watch kids cut them out. It was like they were saying how much they appreciated his work, their chubby little fingers fashioning endearing replicas of his snowflakes. Seeing a room coated in paper snowflakes made his heart leap in a way he had not expected it to.

Sandy had also brightened the room with golden icicles, glittering and delicate. Jack had to touch one, it was too shiny to resist. It dissipated under his fingers, then reformed back into the perfection it had been before.

"What are you doing, Jack? Come here, quick!" Tooth fluttered over and ushered him over to a table they had brought into the room, her hands pressed into his back. The table contained a round, multitiered blue cake. It was covered in snowflakes and ice that must have been made of spun sugar, based on the way they caught the light from the stars and moon that shone in through the gap in the observatory's ceiling. Jack almost didn't want to eat it, too in awe of the craftsmanship.

Bunny thumped over and lit the candle, a snowflake itself, and everyone else crowded around. The sugar ice that adorned the cake shone in oranges and yellows under the flickering candle, and Jack felt like his own smile must be glowing as bright as the cake. He had never had such a beautiful thing made just for him.

"Okay! Now we sing!" North commanded, and he and the other three launched into a song, the first lyric simply being 'happy birthday'. Jack joined them, trying his best singing voice out. They all stopped singing, leaving Jack singing the last bit of 'birthday' alone.

"Mate, you're not sapposed ta sing!" Bunnymund put a paw over his face. Jack closed his mouth and shrugged. "We sing to you. That's how this birthday thing works." Bunny said.

"Oh. Well okay, then. That sounds... nice." Jack replied, confused as to why they thought singing to him was better than singing with him.

They launched into the Happy Birthday chorus again. When they finished, they all stood around, staring at him, as though expecting him to compliment their singing or something.

"Um... very good, guys! Great singing." he tried cheering for them a little.

"Jaaaaack, you're supposed to blow out your candle! Hurry and do it before the whole cake melts!" Tooth's feathers rose a bit in excitement.

"Oh, right!" he remembered the girl from earlier, with her rosy cheeks all puffed out from the effort of blowing out all nine candles on her cake. He blew as hard as he could on the one dainty candle. The flame was extinguished immediately, and a thin sheet of real ice was deposited across the top off the cake. He opened his eyes, glanced down, and mumbled "Oops.".

"Is no problem. Is ice cream cake now!" North laughed.

"What'd you wish for?" Tooth asked.

"What? I was supposed to wish for something? What happens if I didn't?" Jack felt a little freaked out. This stuff was far too complicated.

"Don't worry about it. It's just some wonky tradition." Bunny thumped him on the head. "Happy three hundred and... wait, how old are ya?" he asked. Jack shrugged. "Alright, happy three hundred and something birthday, frostbite." he chuckled.

"Okay, everyone grab a slice! You can have sugar this once, Jack. Besides, part of your gift from me is a toothbrush, so you can scrub those teeth extra good tonight." Tooth said, throwing him a plate frisbee style.

Once they had all eaten, Sandy tugged at Jack's hoody, golden presents floating over his head. Then he placed a present wrapped in golden sand in his lap. As soon as Jack placed a finger on it, the golden bow untied itself and the sand forming the lid of the box melted away. Jack pulled something small from the box, and the rest of the golden sand dissolved as well.

He dangled the little gold chain over his hand. It was made out of glass that looked like it had been made from some of Sanderson's sand. It was hard and slightly translucent, but glowed golden. Hanging in the palm of his hand from the chain was a tiny replica of his staff, made from the same golden glass.

"Wow... it's... Sandy, how did you..." he couldn't find the right words. It was the best present he had ever received. He was sure of it. He slipped it on over his head and let it fall down under his hoody, where it was hidden and safe. He grinned at Sandy, knowing it was better than words for communicating with the little guy. Sandy smiled back.

Tooth insisted he open her gift next. It was a large and soft blanket embroidered with snowflakes and a tooth brush also covered in snowflakes. He laughed, realizing that her practical nature had played a hand in her gift selection.

"I know you don't get cold, but you sleep outside so much, and I couldn't bear the idea of you out there on those nights with nothing to wrap up in. All alone and... oh, you really ought to consider sleeping in a bed sometimes. It can't be good for you." she fussed over him then, wrapping the blanket around him. He really did love it. It wasn't like blankets made him too hot, anyway. He didn't have enough body heat for that.

"Thank you, Tooth. I'll use both every night, promise." he said. Tooth looked at him hard. "Oh, and I'll use the toothbrush every morning, too." he assured her. She smiled back then.

North's gift was next, and it was a sled. A sled! His fingers itched to grab the thing and run outside and try it out immediately. He loved sledding, but he had never had one of his very own. This one was incredible, the nicest looking he had seen. He wanted to use it right then, but there was one last gift from Bunnymund to open.

Bunny's gift was a huge box of chocolates, each shaped into a completely unique snowflake. The paper it was wrapped in was hand painted, as well as the box itself, with designs inspired by Jack's very own frost patterns. And after sampling one of the chocolates, Jack was even more overjoyed. It was the best chocolate he had ever tried. He almost wanted to eat the whole box right then.

"Now, don't you go eating the whole box at once. We'll be scraping ya off tha ceiling." Bunny gave him a small scowl to let him know how serious he was.

"Guys, I don't really know what to say. You're amazing. Thank you so much." he said, looking around at the gifts spread all around him and the beautiful room covered in paper snowflakes. He paused for a moment, then grew worried again. "Wait, was I supposed to get you guys something, too?" he asked, panicking a bit.

"No, that's not how this works, Jack." Tooth laughed.

"We're not just celebrating your birthday, mate, we're celebrating _you_." Bunny shook his head, also laughing.

"That's why we do not need present. On your birthday, you are our present." North said, poking him gently in the chest.

Jack was shocked, not having understood it up until that moment. The word birthday. He hadn't thought about it very hard before. _Birth_day. They were celebrating the fact that he had been born, the fact that he was alive and around. No one had ever thanked him for just being alive. He glanced around at all of them, finally looking to Sandy, who nodded in agreement to everything the others had said.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and grinned. "I gotta do this birthday thing more often." he chuckled.

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**Well, you can probably tell I was inspired by that one Folger's Christmas commercial in the last bit. A lot of people on tumblr were joking about it and I had to, okay? **

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Blue Lips

**So, I made another one! My second ever fanfic! This one was a bit tougher at times to write, but I think it's because I was a bit sleep deprived during part of it. Sleep deprivation normally helps me some with art, but apparently writing is another story. I had to get up early on Sunday to teach the kiddos, and early does not do good things to me. I'm kinda nocturnal. **

**Oh, and thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I need to answer all the reviews still. I'm still trying to figure out how to get that bit to work because I'm new to this site. But thank you to everyone! The reviews encouraged me to keep this up for you guys. Special thanks to Aussie1 for the tips on how to improve Bunny's lines. I'm going to go implement you suggested changes now! Your suggestions were great!**

**But anyways, this story is heavily inspired by Regina Spektor's song _Blue Lips_. It's a wonderful song and I recommend giving it a listen.**

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"_Blue lips, blue veins, blue_

_ the color of our planet from far far away._

_ Blue lips, blue veins, blue_

_ the color of our planet from far far away._

_Blue_

_ the most human color."_

Regina Spektor, _Blue Lips_

Sometimes Jack missed the simplest things. Now that he could remember bits and pieces of his past life, he remembered some of the simple things that came along with being human. And he missed them. Often in the dead of night, when he felt like he was the last thing in the world awake, he would miss them so desperately that his chest would ache and his eyes would sting.

Not that his immortal life was all bad. Flight was amazing, a high of sensation. Frost's blood ran cold, like the night air itself was coursing through his veins. And when he was in the air, it wasn't as simple as being engulfed in night sky. It was like he was a part of the night sky, belonging to the winds every bit as much as one of his snowflakes.

But then again, humanity had such wonderful perks. Sometimes all he wanted was to be inside one of the little homes who's windows leaked heartwarming light. He wanted to sleep in a bed knowing that there was someone else in the next room. Some of the lonely nights spent drifting on the wind chilled his heart until it nearly cracked.

But most of all, he longed to simply _feel _human again. To touch his own skin and feel warmth underneath it. To look into his lake's reflective waters and not see a pale, dead face with nearly blue lips staring back.

Before, his complexion had always reminded him of snow and ice. It had made perfect sense. But now that he remembered his own demise, it brought to mind the mask of death itself. The face of one who had died with no air in his blood and no warmth in his bones. And it had begun to horrify him a bit.

**xXx**

It was spring in Burgess. The time of year Jack Frost dreaded the most. He had to leave his beloved home for another few seasons and wander the globe, calling a new frigid part of it home everyday. It was very annoying. He wanted to be in _his _home, not crashing in some random bit of tundra in Russia.

Then a thought occurred. Why not just stay? After all, he wanted so badly to be more human. To have the pink complexion and warm skin of a human. Maybe, just maybe, if he bore the warmth for a bit, the ice in his veins would melt. Maybe some of the pink would return to his cheeks and he could throw off the face he had worn since his death.

So Jack stayed in Burgess that year, leaving it, of course, on trips to other parts of the globe that needed snow days and snowball fights. He continued to call the town home, returning there for the little bits of sleep he required. And things went alright for a very short while.

But one day Jack awoke from the ground of the forest surrounding the town. He couldn't remember having gone to sleep there. And worse still, the sun glared down on him through a gap in the tree branches above, feeling as though it was going to burn off his very skin.

He groaned and rolled from his side onto his back. He could tell by the heat in the air that it was very late spring, if not already the beginning of summer. What he couldn't tell was how long he had been asleep, though when he tried to move, he swore it must have been days. His whole body ached with disuse and... with something else, too. He felt like he had come out on the wrong side of a fight with Bunnymund. He breathed a low moan and let the wind lift him to his feet. But the wind was much more sluggish in responding.

When he landed on his feet he yelped. They were raw, as was the rest of his skin. But, then again, his skin looked just a fraction pinker. He had done it! He had returned a bit of life and warmth to the chalk white mask. Sure, it hurt like crazy, and he felt a bit like his insides were on fire, but at least he felt warmth. At least he felt something besides the serene cold he had been reborn into.

But when he tried to fly, everything went wrong. He couldn't follow the wind's currents like he was used to. He absolutely couldn't stand how hot it was as it brushed against him. He tumbled to the ground, hard, somersaulting until coming to rest with his legs over his head. The fall knocked the air out of him, and he couldn't seem to get it back. He coughed and the heat of the air scalded his throat.

He tried to fly again and made it over the rooftops of Burgess. He knew he was in deep trouble now. He could barely breathe and every inch of him hurt. He had to get to Santoff Clausen. Had to get out of this heat. He had to find his new friends because he knew they would help him and...

Jack lost his grip on the wind and fell, a building's rooftop rushing up to greet him. Before it struck, he felt panic clench up his throat. He remembered that dying was also a very human thing. That he knew from experience.

**xXx**

"What the... Jack?!".

A soft female voice cut through the fog of pain. He felt small hands grabbing his shoulders to shake him awake. He winced. His skin was still raw, and even her slight touch felt like a million pinpricks.

"Jack, what's happened to you? You look awful!" it was Tooth. Her chirpy voice was pretty easy to place. He couldn't open his eyes to look at her, but he tried to respond to her question.

"I... I did something stupid, Tooth." he muttered. He heard her gasp.

"You're burning up! Even by normal standards, you feel hot." she laid a hand across his forehead, every inch a worried mother.

"I'm warm?" despite everything, he couldn't help but rejoice a bit.

"Yes, and your skin is so flushed! Jack, we have to get you out of here. It's much too warm for you here." Tooth fussed over him, fanning him with something. She held his head in her lap and brushed his hair, which was somehow wet, out of his face. "I'm going to fly you to Santoff Clausen, okay?".

"But Tooth, I can't leave my home." Jack felt his grip on reality slipping.

"Santoff Clausen is your home now, too. Besides, that doesn't matter. We've got to get you out of this heat. The North Pole is the best place for you." and though he felt her shiver at the prospect of the extreme cold, she draped one of his arms across her shoulders and took to the sky.

**xXx**

"Hang on, Jack, almost there!" Tooth grabbed for a better grip on his hoodie as he began to slip. He had been mostly unconscious for the whole trip, muttering in his sleep every so often. She glanced down at him, trying to reassure herself that he would make it to the pole. The unnatural heat seeping out of his skin had her extremely concerned. How had this happened? Jack should have moved on from Burgess a month or two ago. Surely he knew how dangerous it was for him to hang around.

They reached the window to North's office. It was closed and latched, but thankfully the large man slept in his chair on the other side, having nodded off while reviewing his list, no doubt. She rapped frantically on the glass until North awoke with a start and sprung from the desk chair. He glared around the room, as though expecting to be attacked, until he spotted Tooth and Jack at the window. He undid the latch and Tooth flung herself into the room before he would open the window. Her foot caught on the sill, however, and she and Jack both fell forward, spilling onto the carpet.

"What... What is going on?" North yelled in surprise.

"Jack's sick!" Tooth sprung up almost as soon as she hit the floor, flipping Jack onto his back to check for any more damage.

"Sick? Nonsense, guardians do not get sick." North laughed.

"Well, this one has issues with heat. He's not like us, North." she grabbed North by one massive shoulder and began pushing him over to Jack, insisting he take a look.

"This is very bad." North muttered. Tooth rolled her eyes. That was what she had been trying to tell him since entering the room. "We must get him cold again." he went to the door and called for the yetis, yelling something about a tub full of snow.

"Hang on, we're gonna get you some help." Tooth picked Jack back up from the rug and shuffled after North.

**xXx**

Jack moaned his way awake. He felt drugged and beaten. Breathing even hurt. But at least he was cold again. That was one small blessing. The very air around him was cool now, not nearly so fiery and hostile.

Then he realized he was laying in a tub of icy slush. He sighed in defeat. So this was where he truly belonged? Icy water was his new birthplace, and the only thing that had saved him in the end. He loved ice, truly. But humans couldn't thrive in ice. Life didn't thrive in ice. Only death called ice it's true home.

He finally concluded he was in Santoff Clausen. He remembered Tooth vaguely from the rooftop he had collapsed on, and he surmised that she must have brought him here. All of the windows in the room he found himself in were open, the strong wind of the North Pole rushing in to greet him. The wind lapped against his face, pushing his hair about, fretting over him just as Tooth had.

He really didn't want to leave the cool water, but he forced his way out of the tub anyway, his limbs almost audibly creaking. He stood and stumbled, grabbing the side of the tub for support. He wanted to find North, but maybe it might not be so easy.

He wandered through Santoff Clausen, leaning on his staff and narrowly dodging Yetis and elves lost in their work. He stumbled into Phil and was nearly crushed.

"Oh, hey Phil. Can you show me where North is?" he asked. Phil gave him a concerned glance, probably noting how down he seemed, but then proceeded to lead him to North. He was in his private room, the one filled with magnificent ice sculptures.

Jack gave a low, appreciative whistle as he entered the room. This was his favorite place in all of Santoff Clausen, the beautiful structures all formed from the one thing he was most familiar with. Even feeling as pensive as he currently did, the room stirred a small bit of wonder in him.

"Ah, Jack! Come! Have seat." North turned from his latest creation, an ice replica of Sandy himself, and offered Jack a chair made from ice. He himself took a seat in a normal chair. Jack sat just about as much as he ever did, meaning he perched nervously on the edge of the seat. Even sick, Jack Frost didn't sit and be still much.

"Now, Jack, I have to ask you something. Why stay in Burgess for Spring and Summer? If Tooth had not been collecting teeth there you might have been lost." North gazed at him with the sort of eyes that demanded a proper answer. Jack shifted uncomfortably on the edge of his chair.

"Um, first, do you have a mirror?" Jack asked, remembering something he had forgotten.

"Yeeees." North said slowly, giving him a confused scowl. He rose from his chair and brought Jack a beautiful mirror framed in an ice setting. Jack brought it before his face, then sighed. His features were once again pale, his lips tinted a slight blue.

"What is wrong? You do not look nearly so sick now. Cheer up!" the smile North was giving him didn't lift his spirits in the slightest.

"Nothing, it's stupid." he replied. North looked at him hard once again, and he finally caved. "It's just... I'm so pale. I look... like... like a corpse." he struggled with the last bit, having never admitted it out loud before, "I just wanted to look human again.".

"Is that why you stayed in Burgess?" North asked.

"Yeah, I just thought if I got warm enough I might come back to life a little. I just wanted to see something besides pale skin and blue lips, you know?" he put his head in his hands, shaking it mournfully, "It really was stupid. I'm dead. I just need to accept it.".

Then he felt something warm and heavy and soft on his shoulder. He looked up to find North's rather large hand trying to ground him. The Russian gave him a smile. Literally gave him a smile, smiles from North being better than any other gift the man gave.

"Jack, you died, yes. But you came back. You came back as new and wonderful thing in world. You should not be ashamed of your own face." North's hand moved to his head and ruffled white hair. "You died a hero. Your death was rare and beautiful thing. A death that saved another's life. Yes, your face is face of your death. But is also face of your rebirth. Face of a legend and hero to children across globe, and hero to little sister. You should wear face of your death with pride, like a badge. Is face of so much more." North laughed softly, then looked away, as Jack felt himself tearing up a bit. He glanced back in the mirror and was not nearly so distressed by what he found there.

"North?" he asked.

"Yes?" North looked back up.

"Am I still human, then?".

North thought for moment. "Yes, you are still human. But so much more, too. You are a Guardian. You have been since death.".

Jack had to think for a moment as well, his mind clicking around everything North had said. Then he grinned up at the Russian, "You know what? I don't think I'll ever regret what happened that day again. After all, I wouldn't have met you if I hadn't died. And you're one of the best friends anyone could ask for.".

It was North's turn to look a bit touched, and he obliged.

**xXx**

Later that night, Jack rested in a tub full of fresh snow. Every window to the outside was still thrown open. The wind drifted into the room and brushed against him gleefully, happy to see a smile back on his face. He fell asleep, content in knowing that one of his best friends was just a few rooms over.

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**This story was so much more serious than the first. I really had to work to keep myself from going into super melodrama mode. But it was fun. Thank you for reading! I welcome all reviews, especially constructive criticism.**


	3. A Good Big Brother

**"Woah!" you may be saying, "Didn't that chick post something already tonight?!". Why yes, you are correct. But I'm back with a quickie! I'm getting into this fanfiction thing. Not sure for how long, but it's definitely fun right now. Besides, it's the new year now! You gotta have new things for the new year.**

**But in all seriousness, this is a short and simple idea I had that I absolutely felt compelled to do. I'm an older sister myself. My little sister is just about ten years younger than me. So far, she is the love of my life haha. I want to do so much with her, show her so much, just be with her so much. I can't even remember how to live without her.**

**So, naturally, one of my favorite aspects of Jack's character is his relationship with his younger sister. **

**Thank you guys so much for the continued favorites, follows, and definitely the reviews! I'm new to this site, but I've had a very lovely introduction so far. Special thanks to scrubslova! Your comment made me so happy I actually smiled at the computer like a maniac. I'll definitely reply to your comment in a PM as well. Thank you all once again, and I hope what I write makes you smile!**

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Jack was Jamie's informant on everything to do with the guardians. Sometimes they would chat for an hour at a time, Jamie asking Jack even the slightest questions that came to mind. Jack had told Jamie that Bunny and North were the only two guardians with their own holidays.

Jamie secretly thought Jack was wrong. He believed that every single snow day was Jack's holiday, and each were just as good as the other guardians' holidays. And that day was a snow day.

That snow day had been particularly wonderful. He and Jack were building an igloo. But it wasn't just an igloo. It was an ice palace, with Jack's abilities transforming an average igloo into an artistic wonder.

Jamie was attempting to keep up, and he was doing a pretty good job on a window out of the igloo. He had even managed to make it look more like an actual window by giving it a pointed top. He was hoping Jack would ice it over to give it an actual pane when he finished.

Then he heard Sophie's voice calling him from the door of the house. He heard the _crunch crunch _of her tiny feet on the fresh snow.

"Hey, come here, Sophie!" Jack called. Jamie had noticed he had a huge soft spot for the little girl.

"Jack Jack Jack!" Sophie squealed. She had a soft spot for Jack as well. She ran to Jamie's window and jumped up and down, her face popping up over the snow wall, then disappearing behind it rapidly. She was just short enough to have trouble peering into the igloo. Finally, as she jumped, she grabbed the sill of Jamie's window and struggled to pull herself up. The snow couldn't take her weight, and the wall crumbled on top of her.

Sophie looked shocked, and possibly on the verge of tears. The hard compacted snow had smacked her right in the face and made her tiny nose even redder with cold.

"Sophie! Look what you did! You wrecked it!" Jamie yelled at her, outraged that she had destroyed the thing he had worked on for so long. Sophie sniffed hard once or twice, then burst into tears. She tore out of the snow and ran for the house, little bits of ice still stuck in her blonde hair.

"Jamie!". Jamie froze. He hadn't thought Jack Frost could sound angry, never would have even imagined it. But he definitely did now. Worse still, he could feel Jack's eyes boring into his back. He turned slowly to face him, feeling the expression of shame forming on his own face.

"You have to apologize to her." Jack was frowning, but at least it wasn't an extremely angry look he was giving him. His voice softened a fraction, too. Jamie secretly never wanted to see Jack fully angry. He was his best friend, but he was sure that as powerful and old as Jack really was, he could be terrifying.

"But she destroyed it! She didn't even say sorry to me for doing it, either!" Jamie pouted.

"That doesn't matter. You made your sister cry, Jamie. You should never make your own sister cry." Jack, who wasn't really angry at all, couldn't help but smile ruefully. If only he had never made his own sister cry.

"Why not? She started it. She made me unhappy first." Jamie crossed his arms over his chest.

Jack sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. Jamie giggled. For a moment, Jack looked like his dad. Then Jack motioned for him to come closer, almost in the same way his dad did when he was in trouble. He stopped laughing then.

"Jamie..." Jack paused, probably still thinking of what to say, "...you aren't supposed to make your sister cry because there are other things that'll make her cry someday.". He rapped Jamie on the head affectionately. "There are some bad, scary things in the world. Some of those things might make Sophie cry sometimes, but you're her big brother. It's your job to pick her up when things knock her down. Yes, even when it's just a little bit of snow that knocks her down." they both laughed a bit at this. "Will you please go say you're sorry and give her a hug, for me?" Jack asked, looking down at Jamie with an encouraging smile.

"Okay." Jamie replied, not even hesitant now. As he headed for the house, he turned back for a second. "I'm sorry about before and I promise I'll be a good big brother, Jack.".

Jack laughed and shook his head as he watched the kid enter his home. "That kid. It's like he's a little adult sometimes." he muttered to himself. He flopped down in the middle of the igloo, lost in thought.

He had made his own sister cry a few times. Mostly over small pranks, and he had always regretted it afterward. But the one time he regretted the most had been no prank. He had not actually seen her cry that time, but he was sure she had. The two of them had been so close. He shivered, but definitely not because of the cold. He couldn't even imagine how much she must've cried once he was gone.

He wished so hard that he had never made her cry.

But he would much rather she cried that day, hundreds of years ago, than what had almost happened. After all, sometimes it just wasn't enough to pick your sister up after she fell. Sometimes you had to make sure she never fell in the first place. Yes, even if it was just a little bit of ice that made her fall.

Somewhere deep down inside, he was thankful. He had had to wait so long. But now he was finally getting a second chance at being a big brother.

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**Thank you for reading! Reviews are very much welcome and appreciated, even critique.**


	4. Fear of Flight pt 1

**Finally got an idea for another story, thanks oddly enough to TV Tropes. I was reading up on different phobias because I have an intense fear of blood. I found the fear of flight, and I started wondering how bad it would be if Jack became afraid of flying for a bit. It's kind of something he does a lot. **

**Phobias tend to suck that way. Mine kept me from really wanting to be a doctor. But I'm glad I decided to pursue art instead. But now I work in the wood shop and with a lot of other knives and things. I get cut (or ground into, don't ask) on a regular enough basis, so hemophobia sucks hard still. I feel like Jack, having defeated fear in the movie, would be a little ashamed of this new fear.  
**

**Thank you all so much for the continued support and readership! There are some really sweet reviews I haven't answered yet ugh I'm a terrible person! I hope you guy like this! It's going to be a bit of longer story arc type thing :D  
**

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Warm climates are the natural enemy of most things to do with ice. Unfortunately for Jack Frost, this was also true for him. But this time, it was dangerous for him in a way he had not expected.

He was not particularly happy to begin with, before disaster struck. Toothiana's fairies were molting. It wasn't a process that occurred very often, only once every hundred years, but it put at least some of the fairies out of commission for a few nights. So Tooth needed help, and since it was summer in the Northern hemisphere and Jack wasn't quite as busy (with snow days not being a very common practice in the Southern hemisphere) he stepped in to help out.

The only problem was that it was _summer _in the Northern hemisphere. Which meant the things that came with summer. Like heat. And, namely, thunderstorms. Jack didn't have much experience with those. Winter was cold, and thunderstorms liked heat. They needed the shift in barometric pressure or whatever it was the weather men on those fancy TV thingamajigs said. Jack didn't really like TV. It required sitting, for one thing. He wasn't fond of sitting. But TV was also some newfangled technology that wasn't even quite one hundred years old yet. And it was already going out of style, replaced by some smaller shiny boxes called computers and even tinier ones called 'sell phones', whatever that meant. He had been right about TV being some dumb fad.

Speaking of TVs, that was the only place he had ever actually seen close pictures of lightning. But some of it seemed pretty close now. And he wasn't very comfortable with it. He was on his last stop, Burgess, thankfully, so at least he was very familiar with the territory he was flying over.

But he wasn't familiar with the strange quality of the wind. The best way he could think to describe it was 'lost it's freaking mind'. It would be a bit calm for a minute, then extremely still, then it would rush at him with tremendous force. It was much more difficult to ride than the winter winds he was accustomed to. It threw him about like a rag doll. And it threw him uncomfortably close to a few of those shiny streaks of light he had seen on TV.

He was about to direct himself into as graceful a landing as he could manage, when he was hit with what must have been a truck. The breath was knocked out of him, he felt every hair on his body pull tight against his pores, his heart thundered against his ribs, there was bright light absolutely everywhere, and everything hurt. Then it was over in less than a blink of an eye. He was left shaking in the open air, still feeling as though his skin was crawling, with his whole body burning, and smelling a slight burning scent. And his staff was, of course, thrown from his grasp, falling just out of reach.

He grasped at thin air, begging the wind to bring him closer to the one thing he needed to fly. And he might could have made it work, had it not been for his near electrocution seconds before. But he was still trying to equalize himself enough to just remember his own name, let alone harness the winds without his staff. So he free fell, tumbling in the empty space with no friendly hand to catch him. And he found himself petrified as the trees rushed up to greet him. He was lucky to have passed out from fear and pain just before he made contact with their thick limbs.

**xXx**

He awoke just a few hours later. The sun wasn't quite over the horizon, and some of the coolness of night still clung to Burgess.

Regardless, Jack knew he had to move, and fast. He wasn't looking to add injury to worse injury. The summer sun would be his death if he stayed much longer.

But moving wasn't so easy after having been struck by lightning, then dropped from several thousand feet in the air onto the unforgiving trees. As far as he could tell he had broken several things, one of them surely being his right leg and the other being at least one rib. But at least he had not broken his staff. It was just a few feet away, miraculously, lodged in a tree. As long as it was within close distance, Jack had a natural feeling for locating his staff. It was the only way he had not lost it over 300 years. He peeled himself up from the wet ground and clumsily scaled the tree. He let a few words he wasn't so proud of slip, justifying it with the fact that broken bones _really hurt._

Once he had finally retrieved his staff and was safely back on the ground, using it as a crutch, he decided that his best option was to head to Santoff Clausen. He began to take off, then stopped, his teeth chattering for no reason. His heart was hammering again and his hands shook. There was nothing he wanted to do less than climb back into the sky again. He remembered the long trip down to the earth and the smell of lightning crisping his skin. He really, really didn't want to go back up there.

So, sighing in resignation, he began the long trek towards the town of Burgess.

**xXx**

Jack had forgotten what walking around barefoot felt like. He didn't walk much these days, preferring flight ninety nine percent of the time. But since that option was eliminated, he had to just deal with all of the twigs and thorns poking him in the feet.

Once he finally made it to Burgess the sun had risen, and the heat was climbing steadily. He now knew from experience that he had to get out before it got much higher. He rushed to the Bennet house, hoping Jamie would be there.

Once he arrived at the house, he wanted to fly up to Jamie's window and knock. But he found his teeth chattering once again. So, more than a little bit ashamed, he rang the door bell.

Jamie answered the door. Jack was happy for that, if a bit shocked.

"Jack?" Jamie asked, "What're you doing here?".

"What're you doing in your pajamas? Why aren't you getting ready for school?" Jack questioned him.

"It's summer. We don't go to school during the summer, duh. But why are you here during the summer?" Jamie still wanted his question answered, "And why do you look so... _bad_?". He made a face, looking at Jack's burnt and ripped clothes and probably whatever bruises and burns he himself was covered in.

"Bad night. Got in a fight with some lightning. Lost." Jack shrugged. "Hey, does your sister still have that globe the Easter Bunny gave her?" he asked.

"Um... sure. What do you need it for?" Jamie let Jack, who was leaning heavily on his staff, inside the house so he could rest on the sofa.

"Would she mind if I borrow it? I need to go see Bunny." now that Jack was sitting and resting, he found himself shaking all over.

"Nah, she won't mind if it's for you. Sophie thinks you're, like, the best thing ever. Well, maybe besides Bunny." Jamie laughed, then ran upstairs to grab the little snow globe Bunnymund had given Sophie. He had given it her to her as a birthday present, one of North's globes, but this one would take her to the Warren. He told her she was welcome anytime.

Jack smirked to himself. He wished he had a permanent home so he could invite Jamie and Sophie over. But Jack's real home was Burgess, where they both already lived, so the whole idea was kind of pointless.

Jamie came back down the stairs, snow globe and Sophie in tow. Sophie ran down the last few stairs, rounded the sofa, then threw herself into Jack's lap. Jack felt tears come into his eyes when she wrapped a hug around his aching ribs.

"So-Sophie! Hey, how ya... ouch!... doing?" he forced a smile.

"Good!" Sophie giggled, then she noticed the pained expression on his face, "You hurt?".

"Just a little bit." Jack said, ruffling her hair.

Sophie made a low whining sound, then started to cry. He looked down at her, horrified. Why was she crying?

"Sophie... Sophie, it's okay! It was just a little thunderstorm!" he tried to explain.

"You got hit by da thunder?" she sniffed.

"Yeah, that's all." he gave her his biggest grin. Sophie sobbed even louder. "I twied to tell Jamie dat da thunder was scary!" she cried.

"Wait, what? No no no the thunder won't hurt you! Just the lightning." Jack tried in vain to calm her down. Sophie cried even louder, sobbing something about being scared of the thunder and lightning.

"Jack! You're just making it worse!" Jamie interjected. He patted Sophie on the head. "Neither the thunder or the lightning is gonna hurt you Sophie." he assured her.

"But it hurt Jack." Sophie argued.

"That's because Jack was flying. You can't fly, so you'll be alright." Jack wasn't sure how sound Jamie's logic was, but it seemed to satisfy Sophie. It didn't really make him feel much better, however.

After Sophie settled down and climbed down from his lap, he told them both goodbye and promised to bring the snow globe later. He got the feeling that Jamie kind of wanted him to hang around for a bit longer. But Jamie held off asking, perhaps sensing that Jack was in more than a little pain. He thanked them both before leaving, grateful that they were both so understanding for their age.

**xXx**

Jack tumbled from the air conditioned cool of the Bennet house into the balmy warmth of the Warren. He fell on his face, lacking his usual grace. He pulled himself up from the dirt, the whole Warren spinning a bit. The heat here wasn't doing him any favors. Normally he could take it for a little bit, but today was a somewhat special case.

He didn't have to look far for Bunny, thankfully. He was busy guiding a whole line of eggs into a stream of bright purple paint. Jack trudged over, once again using his staff as a support.

"Um, Bunny? A little help?" he called.

Bunny whipped around, sniffing the air in apprehension, until he noticed that it was just Jack. "Goo'day, frostbite! How ya... what in the bloody hell didya do this time?!" he rushed over to grab Jack as he stumbled on an egg that had run up underneath his feet.

"Not my fault for once. Helping Tooth. There was a storm and some lightning got me. I still have all the teeth in a bag in my hoodie pocket, though." Jack explained.

"What?! 'Some lightning got you'? Oh, is that all?" Bunny rolled his eyes, then scooped Jack up, hoisting him over one shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down! What's the big idea?!" Jack punched him in the back feebly. Then he yelped when Bunny adjusted his grip around him.

"Oi! You got a broken rib, too? Just how far did ya fall?" Bunny asked.

"Maybe a couple thousand feet?" Jack replied.

"A couple thousand... ugh, we're paying North a visit. How dya manage to blow off a couple thousand foot fall and a lightning strike? Just how far is that in meters, anyway? If ya were mortal ya'd be deader than dead." Bunny tapped his foot and opened up a hole in the ground.

"No no no, not the tunnels! Not right now!" Jack moaned, thinking of his numerous brakes and sprains.

"Too late!" Bunny laughed, jumping into the hole.

Somewhere along the trip, Jack drifted off to sleep, deciding that sleep was a far better option. Bunnymund laughing at every last complaint he made was really getting on his nerves. He seemed to be trying to make the trip extra rough this time.

**xXx To be continued...  
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***My theory as to why the fairies molt in summer, though it's ridiculous that I even developed one, is that birds normally molt during times of less stress. Like between mating and migration. There's proof in the movie that Jack gets a kick out of rough housing with the kids (Jamie's sleigh ride). He also seems to not mind helping Tooth with her job by knocking out a few teeth. Also, in winter, kids might slip and fall and knock out more teeth due to ice. So more kids loose teeth in the winter! So the fairies are finally getting a break from Jack in the summer and begin to molt. So this whole situation is kind of his fault anyways. BOOM. Well, I'm off to develop more ridiculous theories elsewhere.***

**Thanks for reading! All reviews are caressed and loved tenderly!  
**


	5. Fear of Flight pt 2

**Hiya again, folks! I'm back with more story finally. It took me a bit this time because I was having a bit of a block. I also had a few ideas for some morbidly humorous short stories I had to write first. I'm reading **_**This Book is Full of Spiders**_** by David Wong and its full of some of the best morbid humor I've read. I rewatched the Rise of the Guardians movie twice for inspiration on this, though (don't ask how, I'm out of work until March and I gotta buy textbooks and supplies). **

**For this chapter and the ones after, I actually went in and did some research on overcoming phobias related to flight. I don't have that fear myself; I work in an amusement park and ride the crap out of some roller-coasters. I want to go parasailing this summer. So it took me a bit to get inside that fear enough to write for it. I did some research on global climates a bit, too. I'm learnin', guis.**

**Oh, and on a quick note, I started back to school yesterday. I'm taking 18 hours this semester and (supposedly) working on illustrating a kids book (I'm possibly quite screwed). All bets may be off, we'll see. I do want to continue this because it seems to make a lot of people happy, though. And I'm still enjoying working on it :D**

"Bunny, you sure he's alright?".

"How the bloody hell should I know? I should think he wouldn't be alright, afta what he told me.".

"Ugh... guys, I was kinda trying to sleep." Jack griped at them. Tooth and Bunny's voices ceased, and Jack began to settle back into sleep.

"Jack? Jack, you're awake! Oh, thank goodness!" Tooth's small arms wrapped around his shoulders, lifting him from his snow-filled tub. Jack moaned in reply. His chest still ached, and the snow had felt so nice. Why did Tooth have to wake him up?

"How did this happen to you? Poor thing!" she asked.

"You're hurting me a little." Jack grunted. She released him, and he sat up by himself, now fully awake. "H-hi, Tooth. Didn't Bunny tell you about the lightning thing?".

"He did, but I couldn't believe it! How did it happen? Why didn't you avoid the lightning? I should've never sent you out!" Tooth fretted over him, brushing his hair out of his face.

"Tooth! Will you give me a second? I'm fine, just a little bruised is all. I've just never... been around lightning much before." he admitted, a bit ashamed.

"Never been around lightning before? How? Don't ya work with weather, frostbite?" Bunny laughed, taking a short break from continually flipping his boomerangs.

"Not that kind of weather. Cold weather. There aren't many thunderstorms when it's cold, you know." Jack explained, examining the bandages that were wrapped around his chest, hidden under his hoodie. There were matching bandages around his right leg, as well.

"Oh no! I should have never sent you! I didn't think about how dangerous it is for you when it's warm out!" Tooth was highly upset now.

"It's okay! Promise. It was just a little accident. I'm alive, all of the teeth got back safe. No harm done. I'll just hang around here for awhile, then I'll be back out in no time." he smiled at her, hoping she would let the whole guilt thing go.

"It's not gonna interfere with ya job, mate?" Bunny asked, a bit more compassionately than Jack might have expected.

"It's only winter in the Southern hemisphere. Not too much to do there. It's mostly tropical. I'll still need to drop by places that are cold all the time, but that's not so hard. Most of those kids don't get too excited about snow days, anyway." Jack smiled ruefully, thankful that his lightning related accident had at least had good timing.

"Well, if there's anything I can do, anything at all, to help you, just let me know, okay?" Tooth asked, obviously still overly concerned.

"Okay, I will. Now, you and Bunny go do whatever it is you do exactly. Collect teeth, paint eggs, hop around, fly... fly and stuff." he had trouble finishing his sentence. A chill went up his spine. He swallowed hard.

"Ya okay?" Bunny asked, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, I guess. I'm taking another nap, so see you guys later!" he said, already waving goodbye, desperate for them to leave already.

"O-okay. See you later. You get plenty of rest!" Tooth turned as they left the room.

"Yeah, no problem." he laughed, perched on the side of the tub. "No problem at all." he grumbled once they had left, sliding to the floor, his head rested on one hand.

What was he going to do? Just the word had made him jumpy. But it was something he knew he would absolutely have to do. And it was usually so much _fun_. But he couldn't even imagine enjoying it now, now that every time he thought of it he saw blinding light and extremely high falls. Smelt something burning and felt pain.

Jack was terrified of flying.

**xXx**

It was late September, and Nicholas St. North wondered why Jack Frost was still taking up residence at the Pole.

Sure, he had needed a break after the lightning incident. And sure, there wasn't much for him to do otherwise during the summer months in the Northern hemisphere. And he would even admit to having liked his presence in Santoff Clausen. After all, he had not been nearly as destructive lately.

This last bit, however, was what had North concerned. Jack hadn't been quite the same since the accident. At first, he had just been a bit toned down, still harassing the elves and yetis on a whim. But now, he was downright gloomy compared to his normal self. He trudged about, shoulders a bit slumped. He stopped breaking things and bugging people. He wasn't even icing things as much. He just sort of sat about and read a lot.

And he didn't ever seem to leave the Pole. For someone like Jack, this was highly unusual. He just wandered about the workshop.

North finally had to bring up his concerns. After all, Jack had duties as a guardian to attend to. It was getting colder and colder in many parts of the globe now. Snow days had to happen. Even in September, Jack still needed to leave icicles and frost on the grass for kids to play with in the morning. Kids seemed to love icicles, and they all loved the crunch of the frosty grass.

"Jack! Come in! Have seat." North waved him into his office, plastering a fake smile across his face.

"Hey North. What's going on?" Jack glanced about, then sat down wearily.

"Is nothing really. Hot chocolate? I had chilled for you, of course. So, is more cold chocolate, but who cares?" he thrust a giant cup into Jack's faltering hands.

"Um, since I'm here anyways, can I ask you something North?" Jack asked.

"Sure sure, anything." North nodded.

"Well, is there any reason a guardian might get, I don't know, really tired? Like, kind of weak feeling?" he looked at the ground while he spoke.

"Only ways I can think of is if guardian were to lose believers or possibly lose center. But is very rare for guardian to lose sight of his center." North chuckled, then gave the matter a bit more thought. "Hold on, you don't mean to tell me that you are not feeling well, do you?" he asked, giving Jack a worried glance. Jack shifted uneasily in his chair.

"Maybe a little? I don't know, I just... I can't have that much fun anymore. And now I feel awful." he sighed.

"That is because you need to leave Santoff Clausen! Is very boring being here all the time, trust me. You need to fly off and bring winter to world! And bring trouble! Trouble is how you have fun, yes?" North nodded to himself, not really understanding the whole dilemma.

"But I can't." Jack slumped his shoulders even more.

"Of course you can, just fly out of win-" North began to admonish.

"I _can't_! I can't just f-fly out of the window anymore." he said.

"Why not? Flying is what you are good at!" North boomed.

"I can't fly anymore, okay?!" Jack put his face in his hands and curled up in the seat, "I'm scared of flying." he said in a very small voice.

North couldn't reply for a moment. He was shocked. He had not imagined that would be the problem. He thought maybe it was just the new stress of actually having believers. "But Jack, you have to fly. Otherwise, you cannot bring winter and snow days to the children." he shook his head slowly.

"I know that." Jack moaned.

"No, is more than that. If you fear flying, then... oh, this is very bad." North muttered to himself.

"What?!" Jack was more than a little alarmed. North's definition of bad leaned towards the worse.

"If you are afraid, you cannot have fun. And if you cannot have fun, then you cannot bring fun. You will lose believers. It would be terrible for you." North gave him a look of pity so strong that he felt uncomfortable. He shifted in the chair.

"So, what am I gonna do?" Jack asked, staring down at his hands.

"That is obvious! You must beat your fear." he placed a hand on Jack's shoulder in the same way he always did. Something almost fatherly in nature. "This began with your accident, yes? Well, then you must just forget about accident. Do not let it scare you. After all, you have beaten fear before.".

"But it's not that simple. It's not even something I think is dangerous. I know I'm probably not gonna get hurt again, but I just can't make myself... face it, I guess. I get sick just thinking about it." Jack groaned. "It's like I forgot how to have fun flying." then he thought for a moment, making a face. "That's it! I just need someone to help me remember how to have fun while flying. Maybe if I fly with someone else it won't be so bad at first." he smiled. It wasn't his usual smile, the one that seemed to take over his entire face, but North was just happy to see him smiling again.

"So, who is going to help you with this, then?" he asked.

"Well, Tooth kind of owes me one. Or at least she insists she does. Maybe she wouldn't mind." Jack laughed a little, "I do know for sure that Bunny won't be much help this time.".

**xXx To be continued...**

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**I really wish there was more to this chapter. It's not quite eventful enough for my taste. But whatever, it had to happen. Thank you all so much for your support! I'm gonna try to reply to all the reviews and messages in the next few days. I wanted to make sure I got the next chapter done first so I wouldn't leave you guys hanging. **

**All reviews are read and given proper attention. I feed and water them all so they don't die.**


	6. Fear of Flight pt 3

**Finally finished this arc! I wanted to write a good, long entry for you guys since it took me so long to get a new part posted. This bit finishes up the Fear of Flight story (unless I come up with something really good to tie into it later haha). Sorry for the late update, like I said. This was my first week back at school. A bit hectic, but fun, regardless.**

**And sorry for deleting the last chapter I posted. I got negative feedback on it, so I took it down as to not ruin the work I already had posted for everyone. It's no biggie, and if you guys ever need to tell me something is bad in a chapter or a story I'm pursuing isn't that great, let me know. Critique is great, in art and in writing. I'm not a sensitive person because my profession doesn't let me be. You probably won't hurt my feelings. I don't have many left.  
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**But since I deleted it, thank you again to Alana-kittychan because I haven't been able to PM you to thank you. I really appreciate it everytime you review! It's so sweet! And thank you to the guest who added to my molting theory. I laughed out loud when I read your idea. And thank you to the guest who calls himself 'dude'. It's cool if you haven't reviewed in a while. I appreciate you reviewing now :D I'm glad you like it! And I'm sorry your review died. I will send flowers.  
**

**Okay, gotta go now, guys. It's 4 AM here and I have class at 10 AM ugh.  
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**EDIT:  
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**Just to clarify, I based the end of this off of research I did into methods to overcome a flight related phobia. The method I found was to not force yourself to overcome it in a stressful way. The site I found recommended a more self-induced trance like state in which one severs the negative connection they have developed to flying. What I mean might make more sense when you get to the end of the story. Sorry for being annoying. I'm out, for real this time.  
**

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"Do you mind repeating what you just said?" Tooth asked.

"Do I have to?" he scratched at the base of his neck, making a face, then launched back into explanation. "I need your help with flying. I can still, like, do it, but I can't at the same time. Does that make sense? Like, I just need your help making it fun again." Tooth looked at him hard as he spoke. He got the feeling that she knew something was up.

"Why wouldn't flying be fun anymore? You're the guardian of fun. I thought that everything was fun for you?" she asked, concern creeping onto her face.

"Well, I am. And most things are. And flying's usually fun, but... but I'm kinda scared of it now I guess is all I'm trying to say." he mumbled the last bit.

"You're what?!" Tooth shrieked, "This isn't because of the lightning incident, is it? North mentioned you had been acting strange since then but I had no idea!". Jack braced himself. Tooth rushed forward and gripped him in a tight embrace, a tad bit distraught. "Jack, what've I done to you! I sent you out there and you got hurt and now I ruined the thing you loved so much! How could I? This is so awful! I promise I'll do whatever I can, anything, to help you get better!".

"Tooth! Give me a second to breathe! And I'm not sick. North says it's just a small phobia. I just gotta beat it." Tooth released him finally. "No worries, okay?" he said, emphasizing by waving his hands about.

"O-okay. But how do you plan on beating it? Aren't phobias a big deal?" Tooth asked, uncertain.

"North says they're only a big deal if you let them be." Jack wasn't normally into quoting North like he was the authority on all things. He wasn't even so sure North was right, but it was just about all he had to cling to. "And that's why I asked if you could come. You fly all the time, so I thought you could help me remember how to have fun doing it!" he smiled to himself, remembering how clever he had thought this plan was when he first came up with it.

"But Jack, I don't really think flying is all that much fun." Tooth admitted with a small shrug.

"You what?" Jack was shocked. How could flying be anything but fun? Well, that is, unless you had recently had a fun little accident while flying.

"Well, I've been able to fly since I was a kid. It's not really anything special anymore. Second nature, I guess." Tooth laughed. Jack didn't.

"Ugh, how am I gonna get over this, then?" he looked out of one of the many windows hopelessly, shivering a bit at the drop below it.

"It's all mind over matter! You just gotta convince yourself nothing bad will happen and then you'll be fine!" Tooth insisted, nodding vigorously.

"You think?" Jack asked, still apprehensive. He had already tried to convince himself several times that the danger was all imagined.

"I know so!" Tooth chirped, "You're a natural flier, just like me." she beamed at him, then grabbed him by the icy hand. "C'mon, we're going to the roof right now!" she said.

"What?! No no no, that's okay, how 'bout we talk about this first, I don't really think I'm ready yet, and..." Tooth ignored every protest he made all the way to the high high roof of Santoff Clausen.

**xXx**

Wind tore at his hoodie, whipping every strand of hair away from his face. Wind was happy to see him. In that overexcited pet dog sort of way. It licked at his face and nearly knocked him over as soon as their feet hit the tiles of the roof.

"Oh dear!" Tooth cried. He had to grab her before she was flung all the way back to her palace.

"Hey, I got ya! Sorry, I think the wind missed me!" he shouted over the whistle of air friction.

"You and the wind are friends?! That's strange!" Tooth shouted back. The force of the wind picked up, screaming by them angrily. "Uh, I mean that's very nice! Very nice of you, wind!" she made an apologetic face and patted the empty air beside herself. The wind calmed to a playful breeze.

"Ha ha, yeah, it's kinda cool, really. Wind was my friend back when I didn't have any others, you know." Jack made to grin, then thought of something. Tooth watched the grin die on his face.

"Jack... were you lonely?" her own voice had lost some of its usual cheer.

"Well..." it seemed for a moment as if he would just laugh the question off, like he did so many things. He was the guardian of fun, after all. Laughter was somewhere he could find refuge. Even refuge from the truth. But then she made him meet her gaze. The laughter died in his eyes.

"Yes. Very." he replied. Then he looked back down at his bare feet.

She searched for something to say. The brutal honesty of his answer had left her without a proper response. "I'm sorry." she mumbled.

"It's... it's no big deal. I've got this phobia thing to worry about and I just can't deal with that right now." he sighed. He turned away, to glare out at the edge of the roof.

"Well, when you can deal with it, let me help with that problem, too, okay?" she asked, "I... we all owe you that much.".

He didn't reply for a second. His head bent a little, and he pulled his hood up over the back of his head. "Thanks." his voice was softer than before.

"It's no big deal." she smiled at his back. Then she stooped, gathered up a bit of snow, and wadded it into a ball. She tossed it, striking him between the shoulder blades. He whipped around, shocked for a moment, then he broke down laughing. The hood had fallen from his head.

"Come on, quit moping around, lets get this phobia cured." she balled her tiny hands into fists in excitement.

**xXx**

It turned out that one didn't just 'cure phobias'. Jack wished that was a real thing that could be done. But it just wasn't, and his day on the roof with Tooth turned out pretty terrible.

First, Tooth tried holding his hand as they stepped together from the roof. He compared this approach to the times he had seen parents teaching their kids to ride bikes without training wheels. This comforted him a bit. He was just learning to ride a bike. Again. Wait, didn't one one only have to learn to ride a bike once?

Tooth finally had him at the edge of the roof. She hovered a few inches away from it over open air. He was just about to put his own foot out into the empty space when he glanced down at the drop. His mind chose that moment to remind him that the parents always let go of their kids once they began pedaling.

With an intake of air so sharp it was almost a hiss, he jumped back from the edge. He cowered in a ball shape back on the solid roof, shaking all over.

"It-it's t-too high!" he said through chattering teeth.

"You were almost there! Just one more try." Tooth pleaded. He shook his head rapidly.

"Well, I guess we'll have to try something else, then." her shoulders drooped a bit. She had thought this would be easy.

After a moments thought, Tooth left him on the roof to fetch something from the workshop below. Jack stayed curled up, pulling his knees to his chest. He hadn't trusted her. She had said she wouldn't let go but he hadn't believed her and here he set, crippled by fear once again. Why couldn't he just have trusted her?

The wind flicked his hood back up against the back of his head playfully. It didn't understand why he ignored it so. Why couldn't he just trust the wind to carry him again?

"Because you let me down once. Why'd you let me fall? It really hurt." he mumbled, then, much quieter, "And they let me down once before, too. All of them, even Tooth. What if they do it again and it hurts just as bad as the first time?". He absently pulled the hood back up over his head. The wind stopped pushing him, feeling betrayed that he had ignored it once again.

Tooth reemerged, a strip of cloth covered in Christmas-themed items clutched in her fist. Jack guessed that it had been ripped from some table cloth or curtain inside. Tooth guessed why Jack's hood was back up. She pretended not to notice.

"Okay, now just tie this over your eyes and..." she began.

"What?! No, no way. I see where this is going, and it's not gonna happen." he stood quickly and took a defensive step back.

"Just do it! Maybe if you don't see how far down the ground is it won't be so bad!" she insisted.

"Ha ha, is that supposed to make me feel better because it really doesn't and I don't want that thing on my eyes _Tooth don't you dare!_" his voice became a bit hysterical as Tooth approached him, blindfold held out. She dived, tackling him to the ground. She somehow got the little strip across his eyes and tied in the back.

"No no no nononono!" he pleaded in desperation. She picked him up under one arm and was about to toss him off the roof. She knew he'd be fine, knew the wind would catch him. After all, he had his staff clutched in his hands in a death grip. But he didn't know that the wind would catch him. In fact, he seemed to be quite convinced that the opposite would happen. He clung to her like a terrified child. She noticed he was shaking. She felt like she was going to fall off the roof herself. This was not the Jack Frost she was used to.

"A-are you t-trying to k-k-kill me?" he asked, teeth rattling together once again. She sighed and put him back down. He scrambled to his feet and away from her, blindfold still intact over his eyes. He couldn't see the edge of the roof as he backed towards it. One of his feet fell on empty air. He yelped and jumped back to safety, curling into a ball once again.

"Jack, you're not going to fall! Just let the wind pick you up like always." she said.

"No!" he responded. She noted how childish he both sounded and looked.

"Why are you so afraid? You're not going to get hurt." she insisted.

"You don't know that!" he finally tore the blindfold from his face and glared at her.

"Oh! I've got it! We should look up some statistics on flight related injuries and deaths. I've heard they're actually really low even for normal humans." she smiled, believing she had found the answer. Who could dispute cold hard facts?

"NO! That's gonna make it way worse! I just wanna go back inside. Just let it go." he stood and pulled the hood back over his head yet again, stuffing his hands in the pocket on the front of his hoodie.

"We can't let it go. You have to fly again. It's the only way you can do your duties as a guardian." she fought back.

"Well, maybe I'm just a lousy guardian!" he whipped back around to face her, "Maybe I just can't have fun anymore and I don't deserve to be a guardian! I can't help anybody.".

"Why would you think that?" she asked, shocked.

"Because I'm scared. I'm scared the wind will let me down again. I'm scared that you guys will decide I'm too much trouble. I'm scared you won't want me around again and I'm scared I'll have to be alone again. I'm useless as a guardian if I can't even have fun. And why would you guys even bother with me if I can't be a guardian?" he felt little drops of water chill on his face and turn to ice. He turned away from Tooth and climbed down through the hatch door that led back to the workshop.

Tooth hovered above the roof, alone. The wind picked back up and tossed snow at her in anger. She had driven Jack back inside, and now the wind was angry because it just wanted its friend back. She wrapped her arms around her chest, but not from the cold. She felt an intense pain there, a sore spot caught in her throat. She felt a small tear squeeze its way over her bottom eyelid. She had failed him. Not just this time, but for so long before. She hadn't even known that there was someone out there that was so very alone. But she hadn't bothered to look, either. She had known he existed, but had never bothered to find out how he lived. To find out if he had a place he called home and people he called friends.

She waited until Jack had time to make it back to his guest room before she went back inside. She wouldn't force her company on him now. It didn't seem appropriate after having ignored him completely for hundreds of years.

**xXx**

Jack was sick and tired of laying in a puddle of his own self-pity. He had been curled up on the bed North had lent him for an hour or so. Night had fallen through the narrow arched window across the room. Tooth had not stopped by the whole time.

He wondered how bad he must have hurt her feelings. He had beaten himself up once or twice already in his mind for what he had said. Tooth was just trying to help, just trying to be there for him. It was more than he would dare ask of Bunny. Sure, Bunny would probably attempt to help. But it would come with a heaping spoonful of sarcasm and demeaning comments.

This made him smile to himself a bit, and he was able to dig out of the depression enough to sit up on the edge of the bed. Some of this sadness had to be related to his loss of believers. He could feel a few of them slipping away now, wondering why there was no snow day, even though the weather man had promised one. He didn't have many believers yet. Each and every one that forgot him hurt, pushing him further and further into hopelessness. And that, in turn made him more hopeless. How could he have fun flying when he felt so depressed because he was losing believers? How could he keep the kids believing if he couldn't do his job? And how could he do his job if he couldn't fly? The questions just chased each other in circles in his head and made him slightly dizzy. He growled in frustration.

His head eventually started hurting. Fed up, he jumped from the bed and flung the narrow window open, letting the wind in. It filled the room and brushed around him appreciatively. It's coolness eased the tension in his skull. Something in the corner of his eye ruffled when the wind touched it.

It was a paper snowflake, taped to the wall. He had forgotten about it. He had taped it there after his first immortal birthday party. North had said he could do whatever he wanted to do with this room, that it was his now if he wanted it to be. Jack had thought a paper snowflake would make a perfect decoration. Just the sight of the humble little thing usually made his heart leap.

He crossed the room and took it in hand. He ran his fingertips along the roughly cut edges. He waited for it to give him a paper cut, but it didn't, it being too kind to betray him in such a heartless manner. He reattached it to the wall and admired it. Then he noticed his cheeks were aching and realized he had been smiling the whole time. His face had forgotten what that much smiling felt like.

He closed his eyes, appreciating the soreness of his face and the smile that was stuck on it. The wind rushed around him, appreciating the smile also. With his eyes closed and the wind encircling him, it was almost like he was in the air again. No, it was almost like he was part of the air again. Like the calm and cold night sky, with it's frosty coating of clouds, had re-embraced him and he was back to being just as much a part of it as the wind itself. He swore that he couldn't even feel the floor beneath his feet anymore. And he wasn't scared. He loved the feeling once again.

Then he realized he really couldn't feel the floor beneath his feet anymore. He was lounging on the wind, which was doing it's level best to keep him afloat without shaking him about too much. His staff was only held loosely in the crook of his elbow. He wasn't sure if he even really needed it to stay in the air now.

He dropped back down onto soft carpet. The air still swirled about, keeping him in his trance. He walked to the window and leaned out, practically dying to be back in the night sky.

"Jack?" a voice called behind him. He turned and Tooth was standing in the door, worry and relief fighting for control of her expression.

"It's okay, I'm not scared right now." he replied, rather simply. He hopped onto the sill and let the wind pull him out the rest of the way.

Tooth smiled and leaned on the door frame. 'I'm not lonely right now.'. She knew that that would have been what he would have said next, had he not been so desperate to get back out in the air. She saw something white fluttering on one of the walls. Another look revealed it to be one of the paper snowflakes from Jack's birthday party.

So maybe the wind had let him down once. Maybe she and the others had let him down a lot of times. They were doing everything they could to fix it right now, and he was doing everything he could to be okay with it.

**xXx**

The next morning was known as Snowpocalypse to many adults, newscasters, and people on the Internet who thought themselves particularly witty. Most children just called it the best day ever.

Snow days shut down school across the northern hemisphere, despite it being September. But there was almost no other damage. The storms were mysteriously good at coating roadways and little else. School busses and various other means of transportation were completely shut down, but airport runways were mysteriously barely touched. Trees limbs and power lines and roofs all looked as if they had been brushed clean of the extra snow weight. Most people couldn't make it to work, but then again, many parents got to stay home and play in the snow with their children. And the air was just barely cold enough for the snow to stick for the rest of the day. No one would suffer unduly from the chill.

Jack came back to Burgess, exhausted. He smiled down at the fake Saturday he had enforced on the world below. Then he drifted back to his pond, brushed together a nice little pile of snow for himself, and collapsed into it.

He wished he could go play with the kids. Maybe he would that evening. Right now he needed a break, though. He had worked anywhere where it could possibly snow without sending the world into too much of a frenzy. He had brushed clean every runway, power line, tree branch, and roof. He had meticulously adjusted the temperature to be just cold enough. No one was gonna get hurt today if he could help it. This was his day to make up for having neglected the kids who depended on him.

He knew he that you couldn't whiteout something bad you had done with a little snow. He knew he couldn't completely make up for having ignored the children. But he was trying, and he had a feeling that at least a few of them knew that.

**Thank you for reading! All reviews are loved deeply for 50 golden years, after which time I divorce them and use all my money to attract a young golddigger (guys I don't even know what this is about anymore I'm so sorry).**


	7. The Storm that Solitude Wrought

** I shit you not, our weather forecast yesterday was 'Thunder Snow'. I got so excited; you have no idea. I started singing AC-DC's song Thunderstruck as Thundersnow. I live in the south, in the US, where we don't get much snow. So snow is a big deal here. Sadly, I did not go out and play in it. I was at home instead of at my university, and I didn't have too much to do out in it. Plus, the snow started late in the day.**

** I went out today and had a great time, though. Destroyed my ten year old sister with some snowballs, did some butt sledding. Then I put on a gas mask and one of those Russian toboggans and waved a stick over my head at my sister and people driving by our yard. I was a snow raider. There are pictures and I love them.**

** Moving on, this is my take on Jack and Bunny's prior knowledge of each other. I find it really hard to believe that Bunny was a dick to Jack from the beginning. I don't think the animosity would've been such an immediate thing. Bunny's a nice... um... guy, so he was probably nice to Jack at first. I think it was more just a neglect thing, really.**

** Sorry for the delay in updates. Been doing art stuff for school and trying to apply for a new job. And I've been writing short stories for class and for recreation. I actually really like writing horror when I'm not writing this, and I've been in that mindset more lately. I also get into a visual art mindset, and I can't write so much when I want to do visual art. The opposite is also true, which is why I haven't done any visual art all weekend *sob*.**

**Once again, if you are Australian and reading this, let me know if I mangle the accent. I get nervous about this because Australians in general seem like awesome people and I don't want to offend any or seem ignorant for not caring. Dialects and accents make for a better read if done right.**

* * *

A week. That was how long it had been since the beginning of the world. Or at least, the beginning for Jack Frost. A week of solitude and questions and trying to pretend everything was fine.

The feeling of the ice and pond still lingered on his skin. He still recalled the warmth of the moon when he first saw it. Something still ached in his chest from the village and the child that had walked through him. The world was a blur of the new and the nice and the not-so-nice.

Loneliness was part of that 'not-so-nice' category. He wasn't even sure loneliness was the right word for it anymore. It was so much stronger after his first week. It was much more physical than the traditional sense of lonely. It was a weariness that spread to a tiredness in his head. It made considering his situation a monumental effort.

But it did sink in one night. He was alone and no effort on his part would fix it. He couldn't make friends when no one could see him. He intentionally hadn't been back to the village since that first night. He knew that it wouldn't make any difference, and he couldn't stand to feel the panic climbing his throat again. The tree branches above were coated in snow and ice. The only sound for miles was the soft cracks they made under the weight and the wind whipping around their trunks. There wasn't a fire to pierce the dark. Tears slid down his cheeks, heavy like the snow that fell.

He wondered why he had been reluctant to cry over his situation. No one could see him. He wouldn't be laughed at (how he'd love to even be laughed at). Maybe crying felt like defeat. He rubbed the moisture off his cheeks angrily with with his cloak. The tears froze and joined the rest of the ice coating the cloak.

The wind slowed to a breeze and brushed against his face. The wind was his only friend, though it could not talk to him. He could get a general feeling of it's desires and it's intent, however, and he knew that right now it wanted him to be happy. But he couldn't oblige. Couldn't do that one thing for his only friend. What good was he, anyway?

_What_ was he, anyway?

This question had been haunting him since the very first hours of his existence, and he would've continued wandering and aimlessly dwelling on it, had it not been for the mass of fur he walked into.

"Was tha big ide-" the giant fur monster thing spoke english, apparently. It rounded on him, then its voice trailed off. "Who are you? And what in the bloody hell are ya doing out here in this mess?" the monster asked. Jack noted it's strange way of talking as he cowered against a tree.

"Wha-wha-what are you?!" he asked. His own voice sounded off as he heard it for the first time in days. It rasped a bit against his throat, mostly from disuse, but also because of the moisture still on his face. Then he froze. Figuratively and literally. In his shock ice shot from his fingertips down his staff and onto the fur monster's giant feet-like things. "You can see me?!" he asked.

"Oi! What the... that hurt! Of course I can see ya! I should be asking why you can see me! Aren't you a little old to believe in the Easter Bunny? I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, but... wait, did ya just freeze my foot?" the creature was entirely too large and excited for Jack's comfort. He was happy to be seen, but not by something that might be able to kill him.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean it. It's just something I do, I guess." he replied with a shrug, edging away further.

"What? Well, that's beside tha point. Aren't ya cold out here in this weather? Where's ya home? Family?" the monster stepped towards him, and Jack scrambled all the way against the trunk of the tree.

"You're not going to eat me, are you?" he tried to brandish his staff in a menacing manner. He backed slightly behind the tree.

"Eat ya? Why would the Easter Bunny eat a child? Step out from behind that tree, ya gumby. I'm not goin' ta eat ya. Just tell me where ya home is so I can help ya get there." the creature demanded.

"Haven't got one. And what's an 'Easter Bunny'? You don't look like any bunny I've ever seen." Jack edged forward, eyes still narrowed. "Bunny as big as you'd make a big stew." he couldn't help but snicker.

"Now who's eating who?! You're twisted, mate. Too focused on eating people. When was the last time ya ate?" the monster that called itself an Easter Bunny cast a sideways glance at Jack's stomach. Or caved-in lack thereof.

"I haven't eaten." Jack replied, "You still haven't answered my question.".

"I get that ya haven't eaten, but since when? And I'll answer ya question in a minute! I swear to the moon, you're curious!" the bunny monster rolled it's large eyes and crossed it's arms.

"I've never eaten." Jack huffed.

"What?!".

Bunny monster's mouth was slightly open. Before he could back away, he grabbed Jack by one shoulder and hauled him into a small patch of moonlight.

"What are ya?" he asked, his eyes widening upon taking in white hair and freakishly blue eyes and skin almost as pale as the sky on a snowy morning.

"Well, my name's Jack Frost." Jack explained, "And I'm not quite sure _what _I am yet. Still trying to get a grip on things, you know.". He glanced up. Apparently he still needed to get a grip on the existence of giant rabbits.

"So you're not a normal child. You're something new. A spirit, I'm thinking." Bunny monster propped one arm up, his hand (or paw?) resting against his chin. He scowled in deep thought at Jack.

"A spirit? Does that mean I'm... uh... dead?" he asked. A lump rose in the back of his throat.

"No, I don't think so. Must've been chosen. Not sure why Man in Moon chose ya, but no worries. I'm sure ya will figure it out." the thing that said it was an Easter Bunny smiled. He glanced down and saw the ice crusting Jack's staff. "Ya must be a winter spirit of some sort. That would explain the unusual cold here.". The Easter Bunny began to walk away.

"W-wait! Where are you going?" Jack almost grabbed the creature's arm, but held back.

"I gotta go, mate. I just popped by to see why the weather here was so cold. I have'ta make sure everything's ready fa Easta. It's in a week." the Easter Bunny looked apologetic. Jack panicked a bit.

"B-but can I come with you? I won't be a pest, I swear!" Jack pleaded.

"Sorry, but I can't take ya with me. Ya wouldn't enjoy my warren. It's sorta balmy." the Easter Bunny glanced down at him and frowned. The disappointment on his face was somewhat tragic. "But no worries, alright? If Manny, that is tha Man in the Moon, made ya, then ya have'ta be good. Everything'll turn out alright." he almost reached down to ruffle the kid's hair, but held back.

"How can everything be alright? Nobody can see me, nobody can hear me, everything gets all icy when I touch it. I mean, that last part was fun at first, but now... And you're the only one I've met that can see me and you say you have to leave? Why is this happening?!" Jack scowled at the ground and shook his head.

"Chin up, mate. I'm not sure why you're here, but I have an idea. The cold here, already it's not so brutal. It's cold, but not the cold that hurts people. And the kids I saw at tha village, they were playing in tha snow. It's not so cold that their parents have'ta worry. I think you're making all that happen." the Easter Bunny smiled at him in the most reassuring way, and he couldn't help but smile back. "Maybe your version of winter is a nicer version?".

Jack smiled harder, even letting teeth show. But then a thought caught him, and the smile died. "But I still don't want to be alone." he argued, not delving too far into just how badly he didn't want to be alone. It wasn't the sort of thing he wanted to discuss with the Bunny creature he had only just met.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'll try ta visit ya as much as possible. I know it has ta be bad. I'm just very busy most of tha time." Bunny said. He knew it was a feeble attempt to assuage the kid's worries, but there wasn't much more he could offer. He really was busy.

"Th-thanks. I understand. I don't really know what an Easter Bunny does, but I guess it's important." Jack replied, head still bowed.

"I make children happy and protect them. It's my job. It is _very _important." the Easter Bunny stood up a bit taller, proud, "But I will visit, promise.".

"Thanks, Easter Bunny." Jack mumbled, half smiling at him.

"Just call me Bunny. And happy Easter, Frostbite!" Bunny turned and bounded away.

Jack watched him go, snickering a bit at the fact that he had a fluffy tail like a common rabbit. But then his laughter died and the snow started to fall heavier again. It was thick like the silence that surrounded him. He shivered, but, of course, not from the cold. He hoped that Bunny would visit again soon.

Something in the back of his head, some cynicism that had already formed, told him that he wouldn't.

**xXx**

It was 1968, and Jack was back home in Burgess. The US was a strange place to visit these days. The people around him were excited or outraged about something new practically everyday. Jack couldn't join in. The world changed around him, and he stayed the same. Spring was arriving, and everything was warming despite his presence. The world greened and warmed and changed, and Jack stayed the same.

He saw Bunny three days before Easter. The rabbit appeared every so often in the days before Easter every year, scouting out hiding places for eggs. Jack saw the smile on his face as he completed his work and the pride he didn't bother to hide.

He knew that in just three days, children would wake up and run outside, yelling about the Easter Bunny. They would grin so wide when they found Bunny's creations, and Bunny would feel so _validated_. After all, his work was important.

And even though it had been several hundred years, Jack could still vividly remember the night he first met Bunny. He remembered the promise he had not bothered to keep because he was so busy.

Jack was a bit ashamed of the blizzard of '68. He would never admit it to Bunny, but he regretted the disappointment on the children's faces so much. He especially regretted the vehement anger that had bubbled up in his throat. He regretted the fact that the whole thing was entirely premeditated and especially cruel. But he never regretted the inconvenience it brought Bunny. Nor the fact that Bunny bothered to seek him out for the first time. Even if it was just to yell at him. It was still a break from solitude.

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**All reviews and favorites and follows are appreciated for their aesthetic qualities.**


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